France reviews its hunting rules

AcrossFrance , the forests and vineyards in winter are blissfully quiet. Apart, that is, from the periodic sound of gunfire. The season for (hunting) runs from September to February. Over New Year, when there is less to do in the fields, many farmers and other locals pick up their guns and head out in search of (wild boar), hares or other game. To the unsuspecting rambler, the sight of a fully grown fleeing along a footpath can prompt surprise—or worse. The number of accidents caused by hunting each year has triggered an intractable row about the use of the French countryside.Game-shooting in France is not, mostly, an elite pastime. Over 1.1m people have hunting permits, making it the third-most-popular sport after football and fishing. For many locals it is at once a social get-together, a sport, a way to fill the fridge and a means of pest control. France’s National Forests Office reckons that half of publicly owned forests have an overpopulation of boar, deer and other game. This can lead to the destruction of saplings and hamper forest regeneration. At an estimated 2m, France’s wild-boar population has grown sixfold over the past 30 years. Rooting for acorns and beech mast or trampling on crops or vines, these long-snouted hairy beasts alone cause some €30m ($32m) of damage to crops each year. Culling them, say forest managers, is part of biodiversity management. In 2021, 842,000 wild boar in France were legally shot.